The construction of swimming pools involves a series of steps that includes excavation of soil, formation of a pool wall structure, and then the completion of the remaining portions of the pool, such as the pool lining and pool deck. The formation of the pool wall structure is a particularly crucial and labor-intensive phase of the pool construction process. In particular, the pool wall structure must conform to the dimensions and design features of the pool design, such as wall curvature, while also providing structurally sound support to contain the weight of the pool water within the pool after construction.
Pool designs featuring a vinyl liner supported by a surrounding pool wall structure have greatly simplified the pool construction process. However, the assembly of the pool wall structure remains a relatively labor intensive task using existing pool construction methods. Some existing construction methods rely on aligning continuous sheets of material that surround the perimeter of the pool to construct the pool wall structure; however, pool wall structures constructed using this method are difficult to maintain in a vertical aligned position required during the initial placement of the sheets and the pouring of reinforcing concrete around the outer perimeter of the pool wall structure during construction.
Other existing methods use modular panels that are fastened together at their edges to form the pool wall structure. However, modular panels are typically assembled using any number of tools and fasteners, thereby making the assembly process relatively more difficult and time consuming. Further, in order to achieve a particular design feature of the pool, such as curved walls and corners, a variety of sizes and shapes of modular panels may be required, thereby further increasing the complexity of the pool construction process. In addition, the pool wall structures formed from existing modular panels may still be difficult to maintain in position during the pouring of concrete.
Still other existing methods make use of modular panels that are either hollow or incorporate a concrete form, such as a chimney, to contain an amount of reinforcing concrete being poured. Although these methods require considerably less reinforcing concrete, it is difficult to direct the concrete into the hollow panels or chimneys during the construction process, and typically the reinforcing concrete must be poured in phases to avoid the sagging of the modular panels or other alignment issues. In the case of pool wall structures constructed using modular panels with integrated chimneys or other concrete forms, the modular panel is only supported in the discrete regions adjacent or proximate to the chimneys, and therefore the remaining areas of the modular panels may be vulnerable to structural failures over time. In addition, these modular panels, like the modular panels described previously, remain relatively complex to assemble.